The Bombshell That Changed My Life

Anyone could be forgiven for being floored by the devastating news these women faced. Yet they have emerged from the storm stronger than ever...

- Ruth Addicott, Sharon Sweeney, Claire Farrington

‘I was told I had a week to live’

NICOLA POOLE, 50, is a specialist family lawyer and managing director of law firm Hedges Law. She lives in Oxford with her husband, Wayne, and four teenagers.

I was nearly 40 when I started losing weight and experiencing night sweats. I’d wake up wringing wet, as if somebody had poured a bucket of water over me. I had a blood test, but was so busy with two boys under two, I didn’t think any more of it.

Then my GP rang saying, “You need to go to hospital now and pack an overnight bag.”

It turned out my blood count was on the floor. At first the doctors thought it was leukaemia, then lymphoma. They tested for TB, Lyme disease, Weil’s disease and AIDS, but couldn’t find the cause.

My symptoms continued to get worse. I had a fever and shook so hard that my teeth rattled. I felt sick and my weight dropped to below 6st.

On New Year’s Eve, it was my son’s first birthday. I didn’t smell or look like Mummy and he was clawing to get away from me. It broke my heart.

After 10 weeks, I was transferred to a cancer ward and told I had a week to live. It was crucifying thinking about leaving my children.

I cried and cried, but eventually I had to accept I wasn’t going to make it, and felt absolute calm.

The doctors decided to start chemotherapy the following day. Late that night, the door opened and two consultants came running in saying, “We have amazing news! You don’t have cancer, you have Leishmaniasis disease. It’s a potentially fatal but treatable disease caused by a parasite.”

I couldn’t take it in. It turned out I’d contracted it from a sandfly bite on holiday in Greece.

When it sank in that I wasn’t going to die, it was as if someone had removed a steel band from around my chest. The relief was indescribable.